Ball bearing



Feb- 18, l939- J. A. GGovsKY BALL BEARAI NG Filed April 30. 1928 .lll-lIn ventor JA. refgofU/f/Z/ A ltorneys WMA patented Feb. 1s, 193ev UNITEDSTATES JOSEPH A.. GBEGOVSKY, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA,`ASSIGNOR FONELTHIRD T0 MARION L. STANSELI AND ONE-THIRD T0 ROBERT F. COONEY, BOTHOF BIRMING- HAM,

v Application led April '30, 1928. `Serial No. 273,988.

My invention relates to ball bearings having separable races and has forits object the provision of a device. of the character designated whichshall be simple' of design and easy of manufacture and which may bereadily assembled or disassembled.

A-further object of my invention is to provide a ball bearing havingseparable races and in which the line of Contact of the track portionjoints with the ballsis oblique to the direction of travel of the balls,thereby providing a practically smooth track for the balls.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a ball bearinghavin-g separable races and which may be readily assembled anddisassembled on a shaft in a minimum of space.

Briefly my invention comprises segmenta inner and outer races for theball bearing, the segments preferably being semi-cylindrical in v zoform, and provided with the usual grooved track for the balls. Thejoints between the segments form an important feature of my inventionand are so made that the lines of contact with the balls and the track,on both the .25 outer and inner races, are oblique to the direction oftravel of the balls. This feature insures that there shall be no unduewear of the balls on the track on'pas'sing the line joints between thesegments which has been found to result with divided ball bearings,where the line of contact with the balls and the joints between thesegments in the grooves was normal y to the direction of travel of theballs. Both the outer and inner races vare held together by a novel keymeans movable into and out of sition in a direction radial to thebearing.

y this means I am enabled to mount the bearing on a shaft in a minimumof space.

Apparatus embodying features ofmy in- -49 vention 1s illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, wherein Fig.1 is a side elevation of the bearing;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

- Fig'. 3 is a sectionall view along the line IIL-III'of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1; i1nd Fig. 5is a sectional viewsimilar to Fig. 4 5 with the inner race removed.

BALI. BEAR'ING l side of the other segment. The grooves 21 PAT-ENTOFFICE Referring to the drawings, lmy improved bearing comprises anouter race made up .of segments 10 and 11 and aninner race made up ofsegments 12 and 13, said segments preferably being semi-cylindrical inform. The outer segments are each provided with a similarly rooved track14, and the inner segments wit a similarly grooved track 16, the radiiof the grooves being slightly longer thar the radii of the balls 17irunning in the 60 trac r Each of the segments 10 and 11 is provided, onone side, with a V-shaped projection 21 and on the other side with aV-shaped groove 22, the projection 21 on the one side fitting into 85the groove 22 on the diametrically opposite and the protuberances 22bisect the track 14 at an acute angle so thatv the balls 17, in passingover the joints thus formed, bear upon the lines of contact in the trackin a direction oblique to the direction of travel of the balls. Thisfeature insures that the balls will roll smoothly from one segment totheother as if a solid race were used. j Formed in the outer surface of theraces 10 v and 11 are similarly positioned T grooves 26 and 27 whichmeet at the joint between the seglments and in which fits an Ishaped key28 to old the segments together. The key 28 is 80 readily insertible-inthe slots 26 and 27 in a direction radial to the bearing whereby thebearing maybe assembled on a shaft in close places, such as adjacent toa crank. Ordii narily, the keys 28 are held in place by a bear- 85 inghousing 29. If desired, however, the Y keys 28lmay be designed to beheated and shrunk in place in the grooves 26 and 27.

In order to insure that the two segments of the outer race shall beproperly positioned axially with respect to each other, I provide aplurality of dowels 31 fittingl in complementary positioned holes in t erespective segments.

lEach of the segments 12 and 13 of the inner 95 race is provided with aV-shaped ton-gue 36 on one side thereof and a similarly shaped vgrooved37 on the side thereof -diametrically opposed thereto, the ton ue on`one segment fitting into the groove o the other segment 10 and thetongues and grooves bisecting the grooved track 16 in the same manner ashas already been explained with respect to the tongues 21 and 22bisecting the track 14.

Thus the lines of contact of the balls with both plementary grooves 46and 47 formed in the segments. 12 and 13 respectively. A pair of keys 41are arranged on diametrically opposedsides of the'inner race as may bestbe seen in Fig. 1, while a pair of keys 42 are similarly arranged on theotherside of the inner race, axially fromthe keys 41. The slots 43 and44 extend in a direction parallel to the line of jointure of thesegments whereby the keys 41 and 42 may be .inserted radially of thebearing.

The keys 41 and 42 may be held in place in the slots by being heated andshrunk into the slots or, if preferred, axially extending screws 51 maybe provided through the keys and into the bodies of the segments to holdthem in place. If the screws are employed, there is no need of heatingand shrinking the keys in place. Where there is insuiicient room at theside ofthe bearing to insert the screws 51', itis preferable toshrink'the keys in place.

In order'that the bearing may be more readily assembled, I provideaballretainer comprising semi-cylindrical rings 53 and 54 held together inAproper axial relation by j means of dowels 56. Each ofthesemi-cylindrical rings 53 and 54 is provided with holes 57 in which theballs' ft and the metal around the balls is peened over to prevent theballs falling out.

From the foregoing it will be-'apparent number of rows of balls may beused in the bearing.

`While I have shown my inventlon in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilledv `in the art that it is not so limited but is comprisingsegmental members having'ra-4 dially extending T-shaped rooves formed intheir outer peripheries, sai grooves meeting at the line of juncture ofthe segmental mem-l bers, and arcuate I-shaped keys ittin in the groovesto join the segmental mem rs together.

2. In a separable ball bearing an outer race comprising segmentalmembers having radially extending T-shaped grooves lformed in theirouter peripheries, said grooves meeting at the line of juncture of thesegmental members, arcuate I-shaped keys ttingin the grooves to join thesegmental members together, an inner race comprising segmental membershaving grooves extendin from the outer periphery parallel to thediameter of the race, and keys spanning the line of juncture of themembers and fitting in the grooves, said keys being insertable radiallyof the race.. r

3. In a ball bearing, segmental outer' and lnner races provided withmeans to eect a positive alignment of the segments whanassembled to formraces for the balls, vthe seg'- a I.:

ments forming the outer race being provided with grooves or'keyways intheir outer pe-' ripheral surfaces, keys adapted to seat in the groovesto maintain said outer segments in positive alignment,

the keys imposition.

In testimony whereof I alx my signature.

JOSEPH A. GREGOVSKY.

that I have devised an improved separable .ball bearing which is easilyassembled and disassembled and`which provides a remarkably'smooth trackfor-the balls along the llnes of jointure between the separable membersof the bearing. Due to the feature of the radially inscrtible'keymembers for holding the segments together, the bearing may be assembledin close places such as could not be gotten at with tools at the side ofthe bear- -I ing. In'the manufacture of my 4improved bearing,Y slotting,is along straight lines whereby the parts may be made in multiple,thereby greatlycheapening the manufacture thereof.

It will 'also be appreciated that any desired all machining, such asboring and l and means to maintain'

